It was half past three.
Noah frowned down at him. “How come you aren’t?”
“I’ll be up soon. Go back to your room.”
“Can I sleep with you?”
Exhaling he nodded. “Okay. Go on and get in my bed. I’ll be right up.”
Thankfully, that was enough to get his son to disappear from the gate. He turned around to find the others gathering their things.
“Amanda, I’ll need you to come to the station in the morning.”
“We’ll bring her there,” Emily said, setting a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “She’s going to stay with us.”
Shaking her head, Amanda moved away from her sister. “No way. I’m not going anywhere near the sanctuary. Thanks anyway.”
“Well, you can’t go back to your place.”
He nodded with the others.
“I know that.”
“Then where will you stay?” Emily glanced at him. “With Dante?”
Again, Amanda shook her head. “Absolutely not. I must put distance between Noah and me. I don’t want to be anywhere near him.”
He met Amanda’s gaze and noted the same inner turmoil gripping him with an unrelenting force reflected in her eyes. Try as he might, he couldn’t tell if she was waiting for him to agree with her or protest.
“In a hotel,” Amanda answered.
“Hell, no,” Holden said, and the others agreed. Even Dante.
Carter rose to his feet and began packing his equipment. “No one here is thinking straight. It’s obvious that Amanda should come back with me. We have a perfectly good safe house apartment at ESI that is currently unoccupied.”
A murmur of approval sprang from the others.
Dante let out a breath. “You’re right.”
Carter shrugged. “Usually am.”
Holden snorted. “Humble, too.”
Any other time, Dante would’ve joined the banter but at the moment, he was too tied up in knots to do much more than watch everyone clean up and head for the door.
As the others started to leave, Amanda grabbed her purse and laptop case from the coffee table and slung them over her shoulder.
She stopped in front of him and the urge to grab her and crush her close was so strong, he had to shove his shaking fists into his pockets. “I’m sorry about all of this, Dante.” She inhaled. “I think it’s best if I stay away. Take a step back to keep Noah safe.”
The pain, remorse, and longing swimming in her darkened gaze nearly brought him to his knees.
But she was right. He had to think of his son. Think of Noah’s safety.
This Lyle bastard wanted something from Amanda and had no regard for her feelings or her property. It wasn’t a far stretch to assume the guy would use her feelings for his son as leverage.
Dante could not…wouldnot lose control.
Sniffing, she adjusted the straps on her shoulder and headed for Carter, who waited by the open door.
